TOSHIO SHIBATA DAMS FEATURE IN SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER004

MONIKA BIELSKYTE / ALTHOUGH THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT YOU PHOTOGRAPH IS UNIVERSAL, THE LANDSCAPES IN YOUR IMAGES SEEM VERY DIFFERENT TO WHAT CAN BE SEEN IN EUROPE. IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP TO MAN-MADE INFRASTRUCTURE IN JAPAN.

TOSHIO SHIBATA / WITH INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS HIGHWAYS & DAMS, THEY ARE THE SAME ALL OVER THE WORLD. BUT PERHAPS OUTSIDE OF JAPAN, INFRASTRUCTURE TENDS TO BE DESIGNED TO BE HIDDEN. IN JAPAN TO BUILD A ROAD, WE HAVE TO DESTROY A MOUNTAIN IN THE PROCESS; THE COUNTRY IS 80 PERCENT MOUNTAINS. PARTLY FOR THIS REASON, IN JAPAN WE DON’T HIDE OUR INFRASTRUCTURE. INSTEAD THERE IS A DESIRE TO SHOW PEOPLE HOW IMPRESSIVE JAPANESE ENGINEERING IS. THERE IS A SENSE OF PRIDE FOR PEOPLE TO SHOW THAT THEIR SMALL VILLAGE HAS A LARGE DAM OR AN IMPRESSIVE ROAD.
FOR THE JAPANESE, THE NATURAL & THE MAN-MADE ARE NOT CONTRADICTORY. WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR US IS WHAT IS NECESSARY. IN JAPAN, WE LIVE WITH CONSTANT THREAT OF NATURAL DISASTERS— LANDSLIDES, EARTHQUAKES, TYPHOONS. FOR US, TECHNOLOGY IS ESSENTIAL TO OUR SURVIVAL SO MAYBE THAT CHANGES OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION IN NATURE. COHABITATION BETWEEN MAN & NATURE IS A CONSTANT FACT OF LIFE. SO WHEN WE BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE, IT IS NOT HIDDEN. MAYBE BECAUSE WESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL IDEAS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING IN JAPAN, THINGS ARE CHANGING, BUT THIS IDEA OF NECESSITY REMAINS.